Market globalization, changing consumer needs, carbon neutrality goals, digitalization and other advances in production technology; birthrate decline and population aging; the evolving values of factory workers— These are just some of the rapid changes bombarding the manufacturing industry. To keep pace with these changes and cater to social needs essential to sustainable development, the manufacturing site must overcome several dilemmas.
With labor shortages intensifying, it is becoming increasingly risky for production sites to overly rely on human labor. In the capital-intensive manufacturing sector, this has accelerated labor-saving through investments in mechanization and automation. This mechanization and automation, however, must also be able to flexibly address diversifying consumer needs.
Economic rationalty - that is, producing better products at lower costs - is a contant challenge for the manufacturing insdustry, in view of social materiality, companies are also increasingly required to manufacture their products in ways that contribute to decarbonization and help preserve the global environment.
To beat competitors in the manufacturing industry, keeping pace with ongoing advances in production technologies is a must. With the declining number of manufacturing workers and shortage of highly-skilled engineers, however, securing and quickly training personnel that can make full use of such advanced technologies is getting more difficult every year.
Working environments that are safe and comfortable to work in, and empower workers to unleash their potential are required. Manufacturing sites must grant workers satisfaction and a sense of growth in their work, enabling them to engage in more creative activities.
OMRON solves many different challenges related to such social issues the production site faces with the solutions we create by synergizing and advancing three approaches to innovation in automation; Integrated (advanced control), Intelligent, and Interactive (advanced human-machine collaboration) technologies. That is our i-Automation! concept for manufacturing innovation.
OMRON’s goal is to help create a sustainable society by implementing sustainable automation that can co-exist with the global environment and deliver high worker satisfaction, while also driving the advanced evolution of manufacturing. Central to this endeavor are our state-of-the-art i-Automation! products, built on our three new concepts for manufacturing: “Autonomation Beyond Human Ability,” “Advanced Collaboration Between Human and Machines,” and “Digital Engineering Innovation.”
Our solutions enable steady product delivery and better productivity while reducing reliance on human workers. Through autonomation that balances productivity with energy efficiency, they also allow for continuous, eco-friendly production of quality products.
Our advanced human-machine collaboration technologies allow machines to work alongside human workers, empowering them to unleash their full potential. This enables a new type of labor-intensive manufacturing where humans and machines can grow and evolve together.
Our unique sensing and control technologies accelerate DX on the manufacturing site and innovate business processes by replicating sites and equipment in digital spaces.
